Official documents issued in Aboriginal languages

Staff writer, with CNA

Issuing official documents in Aboriginal languages is an important step toward achieving transitional justice for Aborigines, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday.

“The most effective way to pass on a language is to use it frequently,” Tsai said on Facebook with a photograph of an official document published in Amis by the Kuangfu Township (光復) Office in Hualien County.

Under the Aboriginal Language Development Act (原住民族語言發展法) that took effect last month, the languages of 16 Aboriginal communities are “national languages” and that local governments, schools and state-run enterprises in Aboriginal regions can choose to issue official documents in Aboriginal languages, the president said.

Local governments in Pingtung, Hualien, Taitung and Nantou counties yesterday began to issue official documents entirely or partially written in Aboriginal languages, Tsai said.

Issuing scuh documents is a first for the nation and represents an important step toward achieving transitional justice, she said.

Tsai pledged that the government would continue to pay more attention to Aboriginal cultures.

The act stipulates that local governments, Aboriginal regions and non-Aboriginal areas with more than 1,500 Aborigines should establish offices to promote local languages, and the central government should help establish organizations to promote Aboriginal languages

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